Peterborough man who sexually assaulted several women has been jailed
Craig France pleaded guilty to offences including rape between 2021 and 2023
A man from Peterborough who raped a woman and secretly filmed others in his Peterborough home has been jailed.
33-year-old Craig France targeted young women at nightclubs and plied them with alcohol before taking them to his property where he had set up hidden cameras.
France recorded himself carrying out sexual acts on some of his victims while they were unconscious or sleeping.
He was arrested in September last year and initially denied the crimes, but pleaded guilty to rape, sexual assault, three counts of voyeurism and exposure at a hearing last month.
During the investigation, police identified four victims, but it’s believed there could be more.
A further three victims were identified from the videos and images, who were distraught to learn they had unknowingly been filmed, with one saying she felt France had “taken her dignity” and another saying she felt “disgusted”.
On one occasion, France can be seen sexually assaulting a victim as she lay asleep on his sofa and, on another, he filmed an unsuspecting woman’s body in a sexual manner, close-up.
Officers also found a clip where France was seen naked in daylight at a roadside in the Broxbourne area of Hertfordshire.
Today (Monday, 31st March), at Cambridge Crown Court, France, of Hammonds Drive, Fengate, Peterborough, was sentenced to 10 years and seven months years in prison. He was also handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
Sentencing, Judge Mr Justice Mark Bishop said:
"The nature of those offences show you were predatory towards those women and, when they were incapacitated, you filmed them. Your comments showed no understanding of consent and you are on a journey of further understand of consent. You are misogynistic about women which is deeply unattractive and concerning.
"You accept you became obsessed with recording social activities, that developed into recording your sexual activities. You have an attraction to risky behaviour and I judge that in this case a sense of sexual entitlement, coupled with taking risks and poor self-esteem, is a toxic risk.
"You have not offended since being in a new relationship. That demonstrates the risk that is posed when an relationship ends. This is extraordinary behaviour to engage at the age of 33. You are a risk to society."
DC Em Scates, who investigated, said:
“It’s clear France is a depraved and calculating sexual predator and a danger to women. It is one of the worst cases I have dealt with in 23 years of being a police officer.
“The bravery of the survivors of these horrendous crimes has been exceptional. They had been violated in one of the worst possible ways, yet they remained supportive and strong throughout the investigation.”
DCI Helen Tebbit said that due to the amount of footage and the nature of France’s offending, it was possible there were further victims yet to be identified.
“I would encourage anyone who thinks they might’ve been a victim of a sexual offence to contact us on 101 or via web chat on the force website. We take all reports of sexual offences very seriously.
“We have a dedicated team of specially trained officers ready to investigate allegations promptly, fully and professionally, and a network of partnership agencies and support services to offer assistance and support.”
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